


Nature's Brew

by MothMckrakken



Category: Bleach
Genre: Abarai-Kuchiki family, F/M, Fluff, Sorry Byakuya you only get two lines
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-21
Updated: 2021-01-21
Packaged: 2021-03-13 05:48:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,446
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28898409
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MothMckrakken/pseuds/MothMckrakken
Summary: A fic I wrote for the lovely Salzrand on Tumblr back in 2018, some Abarai-Kuchiki family fluff~In which the inherited Abarai hair gene is the Seireitei's latest opponent and is refusing to bow to anyone's will.
Relationships: Abarai Renji/Kuchiki Rukia
Kudos: 10





	Nature's Brew

**Author's Note:**

  * For [salzrand](https://archiveofourown.org/users/salzrand/gifts).



No matter how much they tried, they couldn’t get her hair to stop sticking up. Rukia’s hands worked furiously trying to press it down whilst holding hair clips between her teeth, extracting one every now and then in a vain attempt to pin down the defiant flicks of hair. This was the longest that Ichika’s hair had grown yet, and it was testing it’s limits.

“It’s no use,” Rukia heard Renji say gravely beside her, “she has my hair and the only way to get it under control is by putting it in a crazy-tight ponytail.”

“Pony?” Ichika piped up with interest. Rukia experienced a worrying vision of her daughter with a dramatic widow’s peak hairline and sideburns.

“No, we couldn’t do that to her,” she said firmly. Renji was clearly affronted.

“It was good enough for me throughout my childhood!” He insisted with a hint of his childhood pout.

“We have come far since then Renji,” Rukia responded valiantly, “We needn’t have to resort to such measures for our daughter.” Despite the damage to his hair’s pride, at those words Renji felt the new pride that he still wasn’t used to fill his chest like a sunrise. _Our daughter_ he thought, the words brilliant and bold, sounding even more so whenever it was Rukia who said them. They gazed down at her for a second, their daughter, Ichika Abarai-Kuchiki, 3 and a half years old, red hair, grey-blue eyes, currently picking her nose and singing the word ‘pony’ repeatedly in no particular key. God they were proud.

“My brother could help!” Rukia said suddenly, spinning around to Renji who did not find those four words as reassuring as she apparently did. “He has the best hair in Seireitei, it’s a well known fact! I’m certain he will know what to do.” She nodded knowingly.

“Or his stylists will, anyway.” Renji muttered. Rukia chose to ignore him.

* * *

Byakuya took one look at Ichika’s unruly spikes of loud red hair and spoke.

“Say no more,” he said solemnly, (this was especially impressive because neither Rukia nor Renji had actually spoken yet.) “We shall have her taken to get her first Kenseikan fitted. It is time.” He nodded at a servant by the door and before Renji or Rukia could so much as open their mouths they were whisked out of the mansion and into a carriage that was waiting outside. They arrived swiftly and before long Ichika was sat in a chair facing a mirror as shop assistants buzzed around her, adjusting different hairpieces. Rukia and Renji sat to the side, wincing a little at their daughter’s growing impatience. A clasp shaped vaguely like a crab’s claw was being attached to Ichika’s head.

“How about this?” Asked one assistant with a desperate look, “It keeps the left side of her hair down, and if we have another on the right...”

“Then her whole head will be buried under the stuff!” Renji growled from his chair; Ichika wasn’t the only one getting impatient. “Have you seen the size of her head and neck? How’s a 3 year old gonna carry the weight of those things?” The assistant’s face morphed into a patronisingly reassuring smile.

“Oh no, you see Mr. Abarai, the material we use for Kenseikan is actually a lightweight metal that the wearer can barely-”

“It’s too heavy” came Ichika’s leaden voice. Renji folded his arms, his eyebrows raised pointedly. The assistant’s smile twitched. An hour after entering the shop the trio left, Ichika’s hair still stubbornly out of place.

“We’ll have to tell Byakuya that we couldn’t find an appropriate one today,” Rukia said with a concerned frown, walking with her arms crossed and thinking furiously. Renji could almost feel her anxiety fizzing in the air between them. He put an arm around her shoulder and squeezed her to his side.

“Hey, no worrying!” He said cheerfully, “I think the unruly look suits her anyway! She’s our daughter after all, she’ll look good no matter what.” Rukia’s laughter was slightly muffled against Renji’s shihakusho. She eased out of his hold and gave him a shove.

“Of course I know that, look at her she’s gorgeous!” They watched Ichika hurl herself at a tree, managing to grab onto a low branch and scramble up to perch on it before turning to grin proudly at her parents, leaves now acting as the newest addition to her whirlwind hairstyle.

“LOOK! I CLIMBED!!” She waved her hands windmill-style to ensure that they could see exactly where she was, which was approximately three feet off the ground.

“Whaat?! Amazing, Ichika!!” Rukia gasped, full pantomime style, eyes twinkling with admiration as she rushed forward to embrace her.

“I can’t believe it! How are you so super strong that you can climb trees?” Renji exclaimed, ruffling her hair (which, under the current circumstances, was probably not the best idea).

“I eat all my vegetables.” Ichika told him, patting her stomach for emphasis.

“Aahh, we’ll have to try that, won’t we Rukia?” Rukia nodded firmly and rewarded Ichika with a kiss on the forehead.

* * *

Renji dipped his hand into the bath water; it was hot enough now.

“I’ve got her clothes ready for tomorrow,” Rukia was saying from the other room. “You remembered to pack the last bits into picnic basket, didn’t you?”

“Yeah, it’s all done,” Renji called back, shaking the water from his fingers. “Ichika! Bath’s ready!” Renji glanced up to see Rukia hovering by the door frame with a hesitant look on her face.

“Her hair will look fine, don’t worry,” he reassured her with a smile. Rukia stepped over to sit down at his side, leaning into him as he wrapped an arm around her. Her head rested on his shoulder.

“It’s just...important, you know?” She whispered. He softly kissed the crown of her head and rested his cheek against the warmth of her hair.

“I know.” They heard the speedy patter of little feet and Ichika ran into the room, clutching something in her fists.

“Look what I found!” She announced, holding her find under their noses. The two of them straightened up and stared at the white strip of cloth crumpled in Ichika’s hands.

“Is that...?” Rukia started, reaching out to examine the material between her fingers. A disbelieving smile was slowly spreading across Renji’s face.

“Where did you get this, Ichika?” He asked her.

“Ah, just in your room...” she replied, unsure if her parents’ sudden interest would result in praise or a scolding. Renji gently retrieved the white strip from Ichika’s fingers and straightened it out.

“Do you like it?” He questioned, picking the remaining leaves out of her tangled red hair. She nodded earnestly.

“Stay still for a minute,” Renji reached forward and swept the hair off the back of her neck. She felt him tying the strip into her hair and saw her mother watch with smiling eyes. Renji moved back and both of them looked at her, positively beaming. Ichika raised her hands to her head and felt around...her hair was still long at the front, but at the back it was held aloft and she could feel the white material tied into a bow; she traced the shape with her fingertips and tugged experimentally before shaking her head to make her ponytail swish satisfyingly. Renji and Rukia laughed. It was too wide to be a ribbon but it held her hair back all the same and although her fringe at the front was still wild, it didn’t look bad at all.

“She wears it better than you used to,” Rukia teased, nudging Renji with her shoulder, and he shrugged.

“For your information, the bandaged-head look was all the rage back then! Anyway it’s too big for her; I’ll cut a bit off to make a ribbon.” Rukia grinned at him.

“Well, just be prepared for when she raids the rest of your bandana stash.”

* * *

The next morning cool sunlight filled the sky and a crisp mist curled over the grass of the hill that Renji, Rukia and Ichika were climbing. When they reached the top they saw three mounds of earth, and a little further along the hill dropped away and a view of the Seireitei spilled across the ground beyond like an intricate painting.

Having had her fringe smoothed and ribbon straightened, Ichika lay a bouquet of freshly picked flowers in front of the mounds and formally introduced herself. They lay out the blanket and the picnic food and watched the sun rise all together, stories from the past filling the air around them as two parts of the family’s life were finally brought together to make a whole.

**Author's Note:**

> I got the title for this fic from some fanart I saw years ago that made me laugh, of Renji trying to brush his long mess of hair, scowling and saying, "Nature's brew". I wish I could find it again ;-; If I find it I'll link it here!


End file.
